Force India team principal Bob Fernley is going against the grain with regard to the F1 Strategy Group's purpose and procedures.
A week after a group of six teams - Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren, Williams and Force India - sat down along with Bernie Ecclestone and Jean Todt to discuss Formula 1's future and how the sport may be revived, team representatives elaborated on the encounter during Thursday's press conference in Monaco.
While the majority of the team bosses were satisfied with the content of the discussions, and the decision to support the introduction of faster and louder cars, larger tyres and refueling, Fernley was a dissident voice, and called into question the very existence of the Strategy Group itself.
Both Chrstian Horner and Toto Wolff called the meeting positive and constructive, but Fernley firmly disagreed.
"I must have been at a different meeting. I don’t think it was a good meeting at all. After 18 months I think we failed totally to agree on any form of cost control. There’s absolutely no way there is going to be any equitable distribution of income. Power units are going to remain the same. And whilst I agree that there were some good discussions on 2017, the fundamentals of Formula 1 weren’t addressed at all."
Toto Wolff acknowledged that a diversity of opinions on certain subjects was part of the process, but the Mercedes chief believed it was time for all parties, including the media, to stop talking down the sport.
"One of the rules we have established – and Bob is new to the group so maybe we have to reemphasise this, is that we shouldn’t talk the sport down. We should push the sport up. We need all of you, plus us, to re-emphasise the good points, on the attractive bits of the sport and try to make it better. It’s not always an easy exercise."
Force India's Fernley persisted with an opposing view however.
"To a certain degree I agree with Toto. I think that the problem I have is that I don’t think the Strategy Group is fit for purpose and we should be looking at something where we have a clear programme that delivers results. We’ve had 18 months or two years of Strategy Group work with nothing coming out of it. I think we need to look at the system in a better way. In days gone by, with Max and Bernie in charge, there would be none of that. We would know exactly where we’re going. I don’t think you should have the teams making decisions on where Formula 1 should go. The teams should be told where Formula 1 is going."
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